Mamatouille

american punkins

I suppose it's only fitting that my first Mamatouille blog post after moving back to America from Japan would be loaded with all kinds of quaint (and yummy) Americana. We're staying with my parentals in the Madison, Wisconsin, area and I'm trying to be a proper tourist while here. I've never lived in Wisconsin so I've been doing my part by consuming vast amounts of cheese.

But a few days ago it was all about pumpkins when we visited Green Thumb Farms.

Food? Yes, please! That's what I like to see, folks. I'm all over that.

At only $1 per squash, I couldn't resist.

I got myself a little box of ambercup, butternut, acorn, and carnival squashes and can't wait to fire up my creative juices with these babies (more on that in a future post).

A whole roomful of baskets, apples, apple cider, apple cider donuts, apple butter, and pumpkin bars (somehow I managed to resist the back room full of mouthwatering pies of infinite variety and beauty).

Crumby lips that loved those apple cider donuts!

Amazing, moist, and not-too-sweet pumpkin bars with cream-cheese frosting, and apple cider donuts that were so more-ish I was glad I only bought one box (and deigned to share, too!).

Haven't tried the farm-brewed (non-alcoholic for you UK folks reading this!) apple cider yet but am looking forward to heating up a cup soon - betcha it would be fun to stir around with a cinnamon stick.

I, Mamatouille, would like to propose a new holiday for every fall from now on: Hug-a-Punkin Day! Anybody with me?

seasons

With all of our hanging out with friends and getting ready for our big trans-Pacific move, I don't have tons of time to wax very philosophical, but these autumnal kaki (persimmon) on my kitchen windowsill are reminding me of the season we are finishing and the new one about to begin.

For some reason, the kaki this year just seem to taste sweeter than usual.

rummified stuffed dates

These are not for the children, folks.

I had a big bag of dates, and though I'd never tried stuffed ones, for some reason I got fixated on the idea and had to look it up. This recipe from cooks.com uses dates, cream cheese, powdered sugar, and orange peel, but I didn't have the peel. (Definitely trying the orange-peel version for Christmas, though.)

Guess what I substituted? You got it! Rum, mon! (Not Jamaican, but still yummy in these little bites.) And I threw on a dusting of nutmeg at the end.

DO NOT make these if you are hungry. DO NOT make these if you are sitting down to watch a movie. DO NOT make these if you like sweeeeeet things + the sour hit of cream cheese.

So if you DO NOT make these, let me know how you like them.

tocino

My friend Lissa is such a sweetheart, and when she and her family recently came back from visiting their family and friends in the Philippines, not only did they bring us some amazing peanut polvoron (powdered milk candy - like a dense, milky, melt-in-your-mouth cookie), but the other day she also gave me a marinade mix for tocino.

Tocino is usually made with pork, but I went the chicken route, marinated it overnight, and then cooked it like Lissa said: Pour some water into the pot with the chicken, cook it till the water's gone, then add in a little oil and stir it around. It's a lovely mix of sweet and salty and cooking it with water meant that it got really really tender.

I'd never had tocino and didn't know what to expect, but it was YUMMY!!!

(Thanks, Lissa! Did I do it right?)

goya juice

When I blogged yesterday about goya chanpuru and how much I love the bitter taste of bitter melon (goya), I said stay tuned for a juice recipe that Stephen's boss makes for all the employees almost every day. He grows goya in the garden around the office so has them on hand to help refresh the workers - and this juice really does bring a zing to your day!

This is all you need:

Blitz half a goya (chopped and deseeded, with the white pith removed), 250 ml (about 8 ounces) pineapple juice, about 2 shiso leaves, and honey to taste (I added about 1-2 T.). Blend till frothy (at least a minute and a half) and enjoy!

Note: Even though goya has amazing healthful properties, apparently it is not recommended for use during pregnancy.

goya chanpuru

Goya (bitter melon) is such a cool veggie - I could eat it all the time and never get tired of it (it's bitter, though, as the English name for it implies, so if you're not into bitter tastes, it might not be for you). It's grown in Okinawa and a bit in other parts of Japan, and I received one as a gift from my friend Nobue and her garden recently. I asked her how she likes to eat it best and her answer was chanpuru, a dish that used to only be eaten in Okinawa but is now common elsewhere in Japan as well.

Nobue's directions: Cut the goya in half lengthwise, scrape out the white part and the seeds, slice it, and then soak it in salt water for a while to help take away some of the bitterness. Saute it with oil, pork, and vegetables such as carrots, bean sprouts (moyashi), and garlic chives (nira). Beat some egg and add to the pan with some chopped drained hard tofu. For flavor, add salt, pepper, and soy sauce at the end. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Well, I didn't have everything on hand, so I took some liberties, substituting and adding as I went, and this is how I ended up doing it: I sauteed some chopped chicken and minced garlic in oil, then added some cooking sake, sliced onions, and carrots. Next came the goya and some cooked soybeans (in lieu of the tofu I didn't have). I used mostly egg whites (leftover from making lemon-lovers' pie) instead of whole eggs, and instead of the salt and pepper, I used seasoned salt along with the soy sauce.

It's a nice mixture of different flavors (sweet carrots, bitter goya) and textures (soft chicken, crunchy veggies). Can you find or grow goya where you live?

Oh, guys, make sure you stay tuned for a goya juice recipe that my hubby's boss makes for all the employees! Coming soon to a Mamatouille near you...

lemon-lovers' pie

My friend Julie (of the silken tofu peanut-butter choco pie fame) kindly gave me an extra pre-made cookie pie crust (hard to come by in Japan), and I'd been craving lemon pie for a while.

One time I brought a bottle of key-lime juice back from Florida and once the juice was used up, I just converted the recipe on the back to a lemon pie recipe (you can get bottled lemon juice or fresh lemons here pretty easily).

So here is Mrs. Biddle's Key Lime Pie, morphed into lemon.

You'll need:

One cookie pie crust (homemade or storebought)
14 oz. (414 ml) can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3 or 4 oz. (6 to 8 T.) of lemon juice (better with fresh if you have it)
Doesn't call for it, but I also add the zest of two lemons

Do this:

Combine the milk and egg yolks on low speed and then slowly add the juice, mixing until well blended. Pour into a cookie crust and bake at 350/180 for 15 minutes. Cool and then refrigerate. (You could probably pour it into individual oven-proof serving cups and nix the crust if you didn't have the energy, resources, or inclination for it. More like lemon custard.)

I really could eat the whole dang pie, but I was generous and shared half with hubby (over 2 nights running).

I'm a sucker for lemons in any form.

cream-of-mushroom okazu

Still using up staples from the cupboard, and this is one way to get my guys to eat veggies and chicken all in one meal.

Okazu just means anything you put over rice, and I make this differently every time. The base is just cream of mushroom soup, plus I throw in whatever veggies, chicken, and other bits and bobs that I have around.

This is how I made it tonight: Sauteed chopped chicken and minced garlic in oil till done, added chopped cooked carrots and kabocha pumpkin, stirred in two cans cream of mushroom soup, pureed frozen and thawed spinach in some milk with my immersion blender and then added that mixture (chopped spinach is not acceptable to some small palates around here but pureed is fine), and threw in some grated mozzarella and parmesan. Stirred till hot and blended, and served over rice!

wakey-shakey

Well, Matthew's not so much into naps anymore (poo!) but Joel still has his daily kip about 1 p.m. After he wakes up we all tromp into the kitchen to make yogurt fruit shakes.

Here are some recent combos we've had (using plain yogurt always):

yogurt, bananas, blueberries, toasted wheat germ, and Kagome purple veggie/fruit juice
yogurt, peaches, wheat germ, and honey
yogurt, kiwi, bananas, pineapple, papaya, honey, and wheat germ
yogurt, orange marmalade, wheat germ, and bananas
yogurt, mikan oranges, bananas, fruit-juice sweetened strawberry jam, and wheat germ

The possibilities are endless...

pumpkin and sweet-potato salad

I got to use up some of my big bag of raisins for this delicious summery Japanese salad that is perfect to put in obento lunchboxes. In fact, I first had it years ago at the Nagoya Basho sumo tournament when a friend brought some in a multi-tiered traditional lacquered bento box, and I was smitten from the get-go.

I'm sure every Japanese housewife has her own version. My friend Nobue gave me her formula, which is so so simple and really yummy with the sweetness of pumpkin (kabocha), sweet potatoes (satsumaimo), and raisins, and a combo sour hit of plain yogurt and cream cheese.

You just dice up some unpeeled sweet potatoes and pumpkin, then cook them as you like (boil, steam, or microwave) till soft. Plump up the raisins with some boiled water, then drain.

While the pumpkin, sweet potatoes, and raisins are still hot, stir in some cubed cream cheese, plain yogurt, and a tiny bit of mayo (I'm not a mayo fan but the Japanese Kewpie-style mayo is not too bad - not sweet like some Western mayos).

Refrigerate and voila! Oishiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii (yummy)!

P.S. Stay tuned for even more pantry-clearing oishii bites to eat...

coconut-milk pudding pops

Yep, I'm still using up what's left in our cabinet and for sure, that "popsicle stick" is one of my rubber-handled metal measuring spoons! I'll explain in a bit...

The wheels started turning when I was thinking about my cans of coconut milk and I remembered I had a recipe for chocolate pudding pops--so why not do coconut instead? Everybody was happy with the results except hubby who thinks everything should be chocolate (plus he's not a coconut fan). That's OK, though, because it left more for the rest of us.

Matthew-Bean wasn't complaining...he just cruised through his popsicle.

So I assessed my options and realized I probably didn't have enough popsicle molds--no worries because I improvized with plastic cups, waxed paper, and yes, measuring spoons.

I cut waxed paper into circles the size of the bottoms of the cups, laid it in there, and then placed more around the sides of the cups before pouring in the cooled pudding. After it had set for a while in the freezer, I added the measuring spoons when the pudding was frozen enough for the spoons to stay upright.

I had to let them warm up a bit at room temp (or you could run some hot water over the base of the cups) before easily pulling them out...

Then you just unwrap the waxed paper from the sides and peel off the circle from the top of the popsicle.

They were nice and creamy, cold, not too sweet, and with just a hint of cinnamon, would be perfect at the end of a curry meal--though they were wonderful just for a snack all by themselves.

I ended up fusing two recipes: a chocolate pudding pops recipe from More with Less and a Puerto Rican Christmas coconut pudding recipe (tembleque) from Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook.

Here's my version, great for nice summery pudding pops. It took 1.5 cans of coconut milk, and I used the leftovers to add to a mandarin orange yogurt shake (plain yogurt, coconut milk, mandarin orange segments, honey, and toasted wheat germ all creamified with the immersion blender).

For the pops, you'll need:

2.5 cups unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. cornstarch
ground cinnamon

Do this:

Combine the milk, sugar, and salt in a pan on the stove over low heat, then use a bit of that mixture in a separate bowl to dissolve the cornstarch. Add that back into the pot, and cook until it's thickened, then cook an additional 5 minutes on low, constantly stirring. Add some ground cinnamon to taste, then let it cool a while.

Pour into popsicle molds of your choice (cups, waxed paper, and measuring spoons are fine). This made enough for 4 popsicles in the proper mold plus 3 small plastic cups' worth.

balsamic (soy)bean dippy spread

Thanks for your suggestions and helping me use up what I've got left before we head off across the Pacific for our big move (still doesn't seem real--after 8 years in Japan, life in America will be a bit different!).

I neglected to mention I have 1.5 bottles of balsamic vinegar (got them on sale!), so I was thinking balsamic + beans = ?

Bean dip! Found the recipe I liked at Epicurious (came to them via Bon Appetit, apparently). Of course I changed a few things, as I am wont to do, and instead of cannellini beans I used soybeans (it took 3 small cans at 140 g each). I also added minced garlic, seasoned salt, and instead of using sun-dried tomato oil, I just dolloped on some olive oil with the balsamic, and chopped some fresh basil to strew across. (The soybeans I use come in a dry-pack can, so they are harder and drier than cannellini. I had to add a bit of water to the processor to get it to a good consistency.)

We used it as a spread on baguettes, but of course you could take a dip in it if you like. We LOVED LOVED LOVED this and I highly recommend it--a nice blend of creamy olive-oily beans with the spiky sour hit of the vinegar. Lovely.

counting down and using up

It's not that long till we are moving to the States, and my cupboards (OK, the closet in the Japanese 6-mat tatami room that we use as our dining room/computer room/playroom) is still running over with too many overzealous Costco purchases. We are blessed to have so many provisions!

Here's a quick overview of some of the things I need to use before we go:

6 cans tuna
2 kg of regular flour (Japanese "soft" flour)
9 cans black beans
4 cans soybeans
4 cans black olives
4 cans kidney beans
1 can chickpeas
4 cans creamed corn
6 cans refried beans
1.5 big bags old-fashioned oatmeal
4 cans coconut milk
10 cans cream of mushroom soup
10 cans tomato soup
4 bags (500 g or 1 lb. each) penne pasta
3 bags (500 g or 1 lb. each) angel hair pasta

We've also got some dried chickpeas, dried mixed beans, dried black-eyed peas (I've got a recipe for a black-eyed pea curry meal I'm hoping to try soon), dried lentils, and some staples like couscous and rice.

I feel like I'm cooking up a storm all the time and hardly using up anything (a very good - miraculous? - problem to have).

I've got some ideas already forming, but I'm open to any and all suggestions you may have about easy, fast, fuss-free, and summer-friendly meals that I could make using any/all of these ingredients.

Oh, and by the way, we're probably not going to Costco in Japan anymore! We've got plenty! (OK, maybe just for wet wipes for the kids. We love the Kirkland big, soft wipes for baby bottoms.)

one baguette = two delish dinners

So let's start with the soysage egg mcmamatouilles. I had one fresh baguette, a bit of leftover egg salad (just with mustard, mayo, and seasoned salt), and some leftover soysage (yes, soy sausages) that I had browned the day before. What to do? Toast the baguette slices with some marg, slap on the egg salad, and arrange the reheated soysages on top with some ketchup. Hubby loved it!

The next day we had a big lunch out so needed a light supper. I had two zucchini in the fridge I needed to deal with, so I chopped them, some onion, yellow pepper, and cherry tomatoes. First into the pan went some olive oil, minced garlic, the zucchini, onion, and yellow pepper, and then after they were nicely sauteed, I added the tomatoes and some seasoned salt. Yummy spread on toasted baguette slices with parmesan and basil!

The kiddietouilles got their veggies turned into a puree for their baguette slices (what the eye does not see the taste buds like anyway)...

And sliced into bite-sized pieces that Mamatouille called "pizza". They were mostly eaten by the little beans, and what they couldn't finish turned into an extra little snack for Daddytouille.

I found a small fruit stand at a train station nearby that has two luscious Japanese peaches for only 250 yen (about US$2.60), a bargain here! So I bought four for our dessert - a lovely sweet way to end the veggie-full supper.